Springfield, Ohio – Fourth-ranked Wittenberg opened its annual Fall Classic with a 3-1 victory (25-13, 25-19, 21-25, 26-24) over No. 8 Ithaca on Friday night at Pam Evans Smith Arena. The Tigers have now posted victories over top-25 opponents in three of their last four matches.
Match Breakdown:
The Tigers cruised out to an early 2-0 lead in the match, before stumbling by a 25-21 margin in set three. The Bombers appeared primed to send the match to a fifth and final set as they held a 24-21 lead late in the frame, but the Tigers scored the next five points of the set to secure the win, starting with a kill from junior middle blocker Aubrey Cox and closing out the set and match with a solo block from freshman middle hitter Katie Hiestand.
Who Stood Out:
Hiestand paced the Tigers on the offensive side of the net with 15 kills against just three hitting errors in 25 total attempts for a .480 hitting percentage, while sophomore right-side hitter Haley Horner also reached double figures in kills with 13. Cox added eight kills on the night and was once again a threat defensively with seven total blocks (2 solo, 5 asst.). Junior libero Taylor Yontz extended her streak of 20-plus digs in a match to three-straight as she finished the night with 21 digs to lead the Wittenberg defense. Finally, senior setter Karen Wildemann once again set the stage for the Wittenberg strikers with a season-high 44 set assists.
Thoughts from the Bench:
That's a wrap folks!
— Wittenberg Athletics (@WittAthletics) September 15, 2018
No. 4 @wittenbergvb takes down no. 8 Ithaca 3-1 on the opening night of the 2018 Fall Classic!
Let's hear what Coach Carus and Karen Wildemann had to say after the match ��#TigerUp #CodeRed pic.twitter.com/KmWQFwWVrl
Up Next:
Wittenberg continues play at its own Fall Classic tomorrow afternoon with a pair of top-25 matchups, first hosting No. 14 Thomas More at12:00 p.m., before concluding the afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. matchup against No. 20 Ohio Northern.